Taipei- Taiwan's former vice president Lien Chan Monday headed to Peru for the November 22 leaders' summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, becoming the highest-ranking envoy from the island to attend the annual event.

Leading a 13-member delegation of foreign and economic affairs experts and officials, Lien was to stop at New York for three days before flying to Lima on November 20.

"APEC is an important indicator for Taiwan's participation in international affairs. We would do all we can to successfully complete the mission entrusted by President Ma in the summit," Lien said before departure at Taiwan's international airport late Monday.

Lien's participation in the summit was seen as a breakthrough in the island's relations with China, which had long opposed allowing any prominent Taiwan leader to attend the event, officials said.

"It represents a goodwill gesture from the mainland and indicates that the engagement policy adopted by President Ma is correct," said Wang Yu-chi, spokesman of the Presidential Office.

Taiwan also welcomed as a positive development an unprecedented move by host country Peru to include Ma in the APEC participants list for this year's APEC summit.

"It is a breakthrough that allows us to have a more equal footing with other APEC members," said Vice Foreign Affairs Minister David Lin.

In another unprecedented display of tolerance by China, the Peruvian hosts included a portrait of Ma with his official title of president in the forum's list of participating leaders. The program explains that Ma nominated Lien to replace him in the summit.

Lien, honorary chairman of the ruling Nationalist Party or Kuomintang (KMT), was vice president between 1996-2000, and the party's chairman between 2000 and 2005.

He represented the KMT in an ice-breaking visit to Beijing in April 2005 which led to a reconciliation between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party and paved the way for cross-strait cooperation.

During that visit, he met with China's President Hu Jintao and established a cooperation platform between the two parties. He has since become a cross-strait ambassador to bridge the gap between Taiwan and China, which separated at the end of a civil war in 1949.

Lien has been treated as an honoured guest in China by Chinese leaders, including President Hu, despite the fact that China considers Taiwan an integral part of the mainland and subject to eventual unification.

Since the first APEC summit in Seattle in 1993, China has been able to bar Taiwan's president from the meeting, allowing Taiwan only to send economic officials and scholars to the summit. Beijing especially opposed any political figures that pro-independence former president Chen Shui-bian tried to send between 2000 and 2008.

Since Ma of the China-friendly KMT took office in May, the two sides have improved relations due to Ma's engagement policy and efforts to liberalize cross-strait economic exchanges.

Lien said Friday he would meet Chinese President Hu on the sideline of the summit and exchange views on further economic and financial cooperation issues across the Taiwan Strait.

APEC groups 21 Asia-Pacific nations. Taiwan joined APEC in 1991 under the name of Chinese-Taipei, because China forbids Taiwan to join international organizations using Taipei's formal title of The Republic of China. (dpa)